As the life expectation of population rises, diseases typically appearing in the second half of life increasingly impact the on the individuals health and on society. These, include beside cancer, a long list of (neuro)degenerative diseases, which have in common the pathogenic accumulation of amyloid deposits of mis-folded proteins. On the other end of the age scale, the autism spectrum disorders, and a large number of metabolic diseases of probable genetic origin, have a dramatic effect on the life of children and their families.
At NANO, we perform researches aimed at understanding the biomolecular mechanims of these pathologies and at developing nano-biotechnology based tools for their early diagnoses and for therapies.
- Nanoscaffolds for neuroscience
- Biofunctionalised metal nanoparticles for therapeutic and diagnostic applications
- Nanotechnologies for point-of-care diagnostics and nanomedicine
- Natural biomolecules and protein aggregation: emerging strategies against amyloidogenesis
- Mechanisms of neuron-glia interactions in brain physiology and pathology